The present invention relates to cleaning devices for cleaning cylindrical posts or terminals and more particularly to a cleaning device for cleaning both the sides and top of a post or terminal.
In the prior art there are two devices which relate to the present invention.
The first is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,150 and shows a manual battery terminal brush which has been widely sold and used over a considerable period of time. The manual cleaner of the patent has a cylindrical wire brush within the cleaner for manually cleaning battery terminals around the sides thereof. It further has a wire brush for cleaning the interior circumference of battery cables. The structure shown in the patent is basically a throw away item since as the wire brush wears out or becomes severely bent out of shape it loses its effectiveness and must be replaced. There is no provision for removing the wire brush portion from the housing and replacing it with a new wire brush member. The wire brush is permanently formed into the housing by heat or other method to prevent rotation between the brush and the housing during the cleaning operation. The manual terminal cleaner according to the patent does not have means for cleaning the tops of battery terminals.
Another prior art device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,647 which shows a rotary tube end cleaner which may be driven by power accessories such as a drill. The rotary tube end cleaner shown by the patent includes a cylindrical housing having a shank attached to a back end for insertion into the drill, a pair of threaded holes on oposite sides of the outer surface of the housing to accept set screws which are used to retain a split compressible sleeve which in turn holds a wire brush member in place within the housing. An end cap is threaded on to the open end of the housing to keep the wire brush from being pulled out of the end of the housing under the force of rotation. The set screws may be tightened into the split sleeve as the wire brush elements wear down to maintain contact with the tube end to be cleaned.
The rotary tube end cleaner of the patent does not teach a means for cleaning the top end of a terminal or tube and requires an end retainer, a compressible sleeve and two or more set screws to hold the compressible sleeve in position and to prevent rotation of the wire brush member.